Tuesday, January 05, 2010

MJ-12 vs The Unholy Thirteen

I have said for a long time that I believe MJ-12 to be a hoax based on the research I have conducted, the evidence as offered by others, and the admissions and statements attributed to various participants in the research of it. I have also said that I believe that if the Roswell crash was extraterrestrial, we would expect the creation of some sort of committee to exploit the find. That just seems to follow naturally.

But, if not MJ-12, then what?

Brigadier General Arthur Exon, who was a lieutenant colonel at Wright Field in July 1947, and later, in the 1960s, was the base commander at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, told me of a committee he labeled "The Unholy Thirteen." This was, of course, just the name he used to describe this group of military officers and civilians at the Pentagon who seemed to control the UFO data that was outside the scope of Project Blue Book, the Air Technical Intelligence Center and most other projects.

I had assumed that Exon was talking about an oversight committee that had been created after the Roswell crash to deal with the debris. We know that some sort of committee was created at some time because, Ed Ruppelt (seen here), in his book, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, talked about it. He talked about the attitude of those in the Pentagon in July 1947, and suggested there was a great deal of concern about them at the top. He wrote that the security lid was down tight. "No one, outside a few high-ranking officers in the Pentagon knew what the people in the barbed-wire-enclosed Quonset huts that housed the Air Technical Intelligence Center were thinking or doing."

Which is not to say that this committee grew out of the Roswell crash, only that such a committee did exist in July 1947.

Exon told me that Truman knew something about UFOs and the implication was about Roswell as well, as did "General Spaatz (immediate right, the chief of the Army Air Forces), the Secretary of Defense (Forrestal, directly below) and other people who were close to them..." He suggested a few others, such as Stuart Symington (last on the right), at that time, the Undersecretary for War for Air, or the first civilian encountered in the military chain of command for the Army Air Forces was involved. He suggested that those at the highest levels in intelligence and the military were represented on this committee, whatever and wherever it might be.

Taking this a step farther, there are the reports of a project known as Moon Dust that was so highly classified that an Air Force officer felt that he could lie about it to a United States Senator. When the lie was exposed, another Air Force officer said that there was a project known as Moon Dust but it had never deployed. This too was a lie. State Department documents released under the Freedom of Information Act proved that Moon Dust had deployed on a number of occasions and that the project did involve UFO research, which again doesn’t take us to that committee created in 1947.

With the name Moon Dust compromised, the name was changed and remains classified to this day, according to information supplied to the late UFO researcher Robert Todd. What this tells us is that while the Air Force might have ended Project Blue Book, there was another investigation classified at a higher level that survived the closing of the "official" UFO investigation. And if this is true then there is no reason that something else, even more highly classified existed then and exists now.

Here’s what I know. There was a committee, as suggested by Ruppelt and Exon to control UFO information. It was housed in Washington, D.C. (okay, Arlington, VA, the location of the Pentagon) and it was made up of high-ranking officers and civilians. There was the public relations scam known as Blue Book but the true investigation was conducted at a higher level, survived the end of Blue Book, and continued on until the mid-1980s, when we lost track of it in the corridors of secrecy and the alleged national interest.

Was all this a result of the Roswell crash or was it the result of both public opinion and Congressional interest in the subject of flying saucers? Did those high-ranking individuals, whether military or civilian believe that something of importance could be learned by studying UFOs? Were they, and are they, responsible for the continued investigation of UFOs and the continued suppression of UFO information?

A committee existed and does exist and if Roswell was extraterrestrial, then such a committee would have been created if for no other reason than to exploit the find. Even ignoring the Roswell case, we know that such a committee existed in the late 1940s and into the 1950s because both Ruppelt and Exon told us it did. And, we know that one such committee existed beyond that when the information about Project Moon Dust was accidently revealed by the State Department.

Did the committee have a name?

Probably. It operated under a number of directives and organizations including Project Moon Dust and the 1127th Air Activities Group.

What was the name?

Other than Moon Dust, who knows for certain? The Unholy Thirteen, as it was called by Exon will do as well as any for now... but that wasn’t an official designation. Until we learn the name, we might as well use that.

Are they still in control of UFO information?

Probably... which explains that idiotic Air Force investigation of Roswell that was designed to confuse the issue... which it did. But it provided no answers for anyone who didn’t already believe that there are no UFOs and therefore no alien crash at Roswell. They provided an answer that was full of holes, was inadequate, but did allow them to slap a label on the case.

And MJ-12, which I don’t believe to have been an official disinformation project, has done much the same thing. We need to jettison MJ-12 and begin to search for answers in a different arena. Of course, in the UFO field, nothing is that simple and we’re stuck with MJ-12, just as we’re stuck with the contactees, crop circles, and cattle mutilations.

10 comments:

The more I dig into it, the more I feel that the MJ12 documents are false. In any event we don't seem to be able to prove they are not false and haven't been able to for years -- so I agree that we should probably let it go and move forward down other avenues.

I've much appreciation for Stanton and his work, but MJ12 is a headache term anymore -- and arguing the same points for another few decades doesn't seem very beneficial, won't get us anywhere, and is only really worthy as speculative fluff to pad more recycled crap-UFO documentaries on the History channel.

There are certainly items of interest that can be gleaned, that point in a certain direction, that I have been pondering for some time.

Immediately following the time-period of the Roswell Incident, the Army fought for control of the White Sands Proving Ground -utterly. The Air Force, through General Twining, ordered Harold Watson to find out "what the Army was doing at White Sands?", and so the first Air Force ELINT program was born.

The Army was the first to push for a "Point Defense" Air Defense system, while others scoffed at the idea, and the Army was the first to persue such an endeavor (under the AFSWP).

In the late Forties, and early Fifties, when certain Navy personnel were bucking the UFO secrecy trend, it was the Army that continually responded, and thwarted such efforts (Commander McLaughlin being reprimanded by the Army PIO Officer at White Sands for speaking openly to the press, for instance.)

The military office most closely associated with the CIA...the Army (G2).

Coupled with this information would be the certain few of the Scientific Advisors who, over the years, played a more hands-on role in the response to the UFO problem, as it related to Defense. One such example would be George Valley, who was very influential in changing the minds of the Air Force in regards to the need for a Continental Air Defense system, AFTER viewing the UFO data.

Why is it that, while everyone else was screaming about how a point defense system was such a waste of time, and money, the Army seemed to know better? After all, their detractors were correct in pointing out how ineffective such a system would be against fast moving bombers. But what if the objects they are intersted in shooting down had a propensity to hover? If a point defense system could be brought to bare at any of these moments, might not it prove to be effective? (given that the power behind the detination would be of use, of course)

In any case, it would seem that, whoever was truly behind the real UFO program, as it pertains to a control group, the Army would have been at the apex...or at least thats the way it seems to me.

Others that spoke of the control group include Wilbert B Smith, Dr Robert Sarbacher, and Dr Eric Walker. The recorded phone call with Ad Bobby Rae Inman is also of interest. After all it's the Navy that control the hardware today!

It is the Army, it is the Air Force, it is the Navy (and always the US ones) that control everything about UFOs, isn't it?At least that's what you (and other ETHers) constantly tell us.

Kevin: I have looked up Ruppelt's chapter 2, p.22 and nowhere does he say a 'committee' existed in July 1947. He does say, as you quote, that certain minds were hard at work at the time, housed in those Quonset huts. OK, so those minds were hard at work, concerned about UFOs. A very natural thing to do when both Russian and possible ex-German missiles were strong suspects, and the military were highly concerned. These ATIC people were indeed very worried, as were those at the Pentagon, but I repeat, there was NO committee. A committee is something that meets on a regular basis and has minutes, officers and agendas.

Tell me: When you first met General Exon, had he read about or heard about MJ-12? The reason I ask is that I firmly believe he invented 'The Unholy 13' from what he had heard about MJ-12 and decided to include a few of the same personnel on it and upped the number by one. He was relying on shaky memories and confabulating things a bit.

Am I, just possibly, correct?

By the way that Interstellar housewife's (partial) face looks highly terrestrial to me!

Well it's nice to find someone who doesn't find the MJ-12 idea the holy grail of Ufology. There are any number of reasons to doubt the existence of this group based on how the information unfolded but the most obvious one is the fact the "documents" are all there is to support it's existence. Most folks have no understanding of how information security works at that level.

At this level of security and secrecy the only written material would be "eyes only" paper that would never leave a briefing room. Each document, i.e. a memo or written brief, would be accounted for before and after every meeting. There would a person whose job it is to account for each document at the end of meetings and who would personally see to the destruction of such documents. The mere possession of such a document outside of a briefing room, even if an individual is part of the briefing list, is considered prima fascia evidence of treason. If any of this material every made it into a saved file it would likely be kept by a single individual (who would be taking the lead) and there would be absolutely no paper trail discoverable by the usual FOI requests. Further: no discussion of the topic would be allowed outside of secure areas that are cleared by counter intelligence. The point is: every shred of paper is strictly accounted for and there is really no chance of stuff just showing up "somewhere".

I've spent some time on active duty. There were rooms tucked away in squadron spaces that were locked. A limited number of people had access. Even though I carried a security clearance (which, contrary to what you might have heard is not a very big deal, it comes with being an officer) I was not allowed to enter because I had no need to know and no one every talked about what happened in the rooms. Ever! And this is for low level information. At the highest levels of security the information flow is designed so that it's invisible. It never happened. These people don't even talk in their sleep.

The idea that written info classified at this level conveniently just "shows up" in a file after all the principals are long gone is laughable.

I'm not going to get involved in an argument over semantics. If you wish to interpret Ruppelt's words one way, go right ahead. I base my interpretation on my years as a military officer and what I saw happen at high level. Clearly there was an organization dedicated to suppressing UFO information and the documentation is heavy to prove it. If you wish to see it as something else, more power to you...

As for General Exon. When I first spoke to him he had very little knowledge of the UFO field and all the little sub groups that populate it. He was unaware of the MJ-12 at the time and he was talking about the group of people, in Washington, D.C. who were controlling some of the UFO investigative activities.

It is clear that something, other than Project Blue Book was at work here and we have the documentation to prove it... from the various organizations to the classified project names and to general officers who were telling us these things.

No, this doesn't lead to the extraterrestrial but it does suggest interest at the top. That really, was all I was saying here.

Acording to author Timothy Good Dr Eric A Walker, who had held a number of senior scientific posts including chairman of the Institute of Defense Analysis confirmed in a recorded telephone conversation with William Steinman in 1986 that he had attended meetings at Wright Patterson Air Force Base concerning the military recovery of flying saucers and bodies of occupants.

'Did you ever hear of the MJ-12 group? asked Steinman. 'Yes, I know of MJ-12. I have known of them for forty years,'replied Walker. 'You are delving into an area that you can do absolutly nothing about...Why don't you just leave it alone and drop it?'

The transcript of the phone conversation was published by MUFON in 1991.

Take it with a grain of salt, but several years ago I stumbled upon something that seemed to bolster, somewhat, the SOM manual. Yeah, I know, it's all bogus...but you can confirm this story through Ryan Wood if you so desire.

I was doing Internet searches of different types, looking for background data on Air Defense history, to add to what I had learned through reading historical accounts via bookstores and the library.

At the period of time that I'm referring to, I had become seriously ill with some type of exotic virus. The symptoms were very much like Malaria. On one evening, when this sickness had temporarily subsided, I took the opportunity to get back to my studies. Before calling it a night, on this occasion, while on an official page of the Marine Corps, I decided to run a search on the term OPNAC. Much to my surprise, the third item on the list that emerged had to do with a Colonel being elected to the OPNAC Science board.

I immediately contacted Ryan, and sent him the link. We never discussed it further, so I don't know if he or his father found more.

I later found out that BBS stood for Biological, and Behavioral Studies of the Navy's Aeronautics board.

Much later, after recovering from this illness, I repeated my search, but could not find the link anymore.

My hard drive/computer had been hacked, or otherwise attacked while I was sick, and that hard drive was removed from my computer. That was the same time my first blog was removed, and I started my current one.

I don't have the software at hand to retrieve what is on there, but could get it if need be. I just didn't see the need to.

As such, I had conducted a new search using the same metod, to no avail.

What am I implying? That theree really is an OPNAC BBS, but can't say for certain what that exactly means, other than what I already said.